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The Citizen, 1998-02-04, Page 18LADIES' FASHIONS Eagle BRIDAL & TUXEDO CENTRE 20% Off • Wedding Gowns • Bridesmaid's Gowns • Mother's Gowns • Headpieces, Hats & Veils • Wedding Invitations & Decorations • Dyeable Satin Shoes & Purses Also Sale Gowns from $100.00 182 Main St. W., LISTOWEL 519-291-1011 liarosim4H SI OF LISTOWEL PAGE 18 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1998. Wedding Showcase '98 Backyard wedding allows freedom, relaxation Donna Sullivan knew she had found the perfect place to hold her wedding when, one day, she happened to look out the kitchen window. What she saw was her own backyard. Donna and her fiance, Mark Saltarelli, were lapsed members of different religions. Neither wanted to be married in a church and both wanted the freedom and relaxation that comes with an outdoor wedding. They had contemplated holding a small ceremony in a park at nearby Queenston Heights along the Niagara River, but that would have meant a much smaller guest list. The day Donna looked out the window was the day their wedding plans started to come together. "And we discovered that there had been a wedding in the backyard maybe 15 years earlier -- that someone had actually done it. So that gave us the inspiration to say 'OK, it can be done'." Their backyard is 60 feet wide by 90 feet deep, plenty big enough for a wedding, Donna said. So the Champagne is the most romantic of wines. Its sparkling efferves-. cence toasts the sweetness and hope of new marriage, the celebration of life's successes, the arrival of tiny new lives. the anniversaries of love. It's a time-honoured tradition to toast the new bride and groom with a shimmering glass of champagne or sparkling wine. And champagne can add a festive elegance to your wedding in many ways: • Add sparkle to your wedding table with bright, shiny confetti and glittery metallic ribbons entwined in the flowers and tied to the chairbacks. Have your florist create table arrangements using champagne buckets or clusters of graceful champagne flutes. • Consider champagne as gifts for the bridal party and anyone else who helped smooth the way for a perfect wedding day. A bottle of champagne with a champagne Continued from page 16 stations. What you're looking for here is an indication the firm has dealt with events similar to yours and that their planning appears to be thorough. 3. Sample menus. Now you're getting down to the fun part! The caterer should ask you for as many details as possible about your tastes and desires and then start to make suggestions. Often they'll use a few sample menus to get things started, before asking you for ideas on specific details. If you don't start to sense that the company is a reliable firm you can trust at this point, look elsewhere. Whether buffet-style or sit- down, menu prices are usually quoted on a per plate basis. Ask up front if you're not sure whether the price includes appetizers, coffee or dessert. 4. List of responsibilities. What guest list grew, their circa 1900 home in Welland, ON. was renovated because they knew guests would inevitably go in the house, the backyard was fenced, and for three-and-a-half-months, Mark and Donna planned their wedding. "We were getting married on Sept. 7, so we first took into consideration that the weather might not be the greatest We decided that we would just have to have one of those big tents," said Donna. They turned to the telephone yellow pages and found one fairly easily. The cost for the tent, tables and chairs, Donna said, was about $550. The rental company came the day before the wedding to erect the tent, lined rows of chairs under it as seating for the 100 guests, and set up tables and chairs on the lawn outside the tent. The company came the day after the wedding to pack everything up and take it away. "You want to make sure it's a tent, by the way, that's relatively new and in good shape," said Donna. "Make sure that it's bucket (and perhaps one of the new champagne stoppers) will- let them relive the happiness of your wedding with their own special someone. • Don't assume good champagne is too expensive for your wedding budget. • Give special guests - Mom and Dad, Grandparents and your favourite cousin - corks from champagne popped for the occasion. Mark the corks: "Mary and Joe's wedding day," with the date, for a wonderful wedding memento. And when the wedding's over, champagne can help the romance live on. Plan to make champagne a part of your married life. Create your own champagne traditions, and keep the spark alive! Champagne and sparkling wine can enliven any celebration, no matter how big or small the triumph. Served with Wednesday night's dinner, champagne can pick up the whole week! exactly do you expect from a caterer? If you're renting a hall, will it come equipped with dishes, serving trays, or a bar? Many caterers are familiar with local reception halls, but you should know what will be needed before you meet with them. If their food looks wonderful but you think their taste was all in their mouths when they picked their china, ask if you can provide your own. Many caterers will have no objections to you bring- ing in your own props, such as extra tables, trays, glasses and silver. Party-supply rental shops can provide an amazing array of goods from fine chinas to table linens. However, it's sometimes a condition of a caterer's contract that their services be used. Everything the caterer will provide should be clearly spelled out on the list of responsibilities, with a price list attached. something which is used for wedding or very special occasions, not something set up for sports events." Once they had the tent, Mark and Donna were free to have it set up in a style they liked. For Donna, that meant a table at the back. The wedding cake, flanked by flowers, was the centrepiece of the table. The chairs were set up to mimic the seating in a church, with an aisle for the bridal party to walk down. The sides of the tent had plastic windows to let in light, and Donna placed floral arrangements outside these windows. A local crafts- woman made huge bows in the wedding colors for decorations. Because the grass was in good condition, Mark and Donna didn't do a lot to the lawn in the backyard. Donna said she probably wouldn't have done much, unless the grass was in very bad shape, simply because not a lot of it would be showing. "By the time you get a tent up and tables and flowers all around and people walking it's not a major concern. "We have lovely trees in our backyard and flowers. It's the overall effect that people notice when they walk in. "When you're outside and have nature around you, you don't have to worry quite as much." - Mark and Donna wanted lots of cut flowers to decorate the tent and their yard. Donna was able to buy a huge number of roses discounted because they were seconds. She ordered them over the telephone and got 200 roses for about $40. Mark's favourite flowers are gladiolas and Donna was also able to get another 200 for about $50 by buying directly from a local grower. Music was provided by a composer friend who brought his electric piano and set it up under the tent. After the ceremony, Mark and Donna simply played music from their own collection. The wedding was catered, but the backyard locale and the time of the wedding - 3 p.m. - meant the type of food being served was vastly different from the sit-down meal usually provided at weddings. Donna wanted the reception to closely follow the service. That meant the food would haVe to be something other than a hot meal served at tables. Donna decided to provide hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, fruit plates and fancy sandwiches served buffet style. The caterers brought "every- thing," said Donna. That included their own tables and trays, someone to serve at the main table and a serving person to walk through the guests. After the reception, they whisked everything away again. That's the benefit, Donna pointed out, of having caterers rather than letting friends and family bring food. Mark and Donna got the casual wedding they wanted. Guests started to arrive about an hour-and- a-half before the ceremony and were able to sit and socialize while having a drink. Because there was no formal end to the festivities, people could leave as they pleased. This meant older people and parents with children were able to enjoy the wedding and as much of the reception as they wanted. And the bride and groom enjoyed themselves, too. After the wedding cake- jotas cut, Mark went around the backyard and-Served it, to the guests -- which .gave him a chance to talk with everyone after the ceremony. "This was really a nice touch. How many weddings have you gone to where the groom goes around serving with a tray?" asked Donna. "I-think the really nice thing was that I really did have a chance to talk to everyone there that day. It wasn't just a blur, it was nice and relaxed and it really was an intimate setting, even with that number of people." , - _ I L — -~1 L I _, ,---g41FA Ti ,. ( FBed etBreagast_ - • 1 , I .-- —.I N11/' [--7— —1 '-- --- -. 's 4r h. C I 4fik — Iii% ---- — _ - le N rea- Bed & Breakfasts provide gracious country accommodations for your wedding guests Mitchell's Country Bed & Breakfast Enjoy quiet country, relaxing itiner- ary for shopping, sightseeing avail- able for a day's travel in different directions. Your extra guests for special occasions are very welcome. Four double rooms. Wheelchair accessible. Full breakfast. Phyllis and Emerson Mitchell RR 3, Walton, Ont. NOK 1Z0 (Conc. 9 & 10 of Morris Twp. - 1/2 mile west of Walton Church) (519) 887-6697. Blyth Station House Linda and Chan Vir, 481 Dinsley St. E., Blyth, Ontario NOM 1H0, (519) 523-9826 or (416) 449-6588. Century- old railway station, tastefully reno- vated. Air conditioned. Delicious breakfasts in exquisite round wait- ing room. Queen-sized bedrooms, some with private bathrooms, including separate romantic hide- away with whirlpool. Peaceful retreat. Friendly hosts. Walking dis- tance to Blyth Festival Theatre. Close to Stratford, Huron Country Playhouse and west coast beaches. Breakfast style: full. Guest capacity: 13. Reservations preferred. Open year round. Rates: $60.00 - $90.00 double incl. tax. Gypsy Lane Bed & Breakfast A, quiet residence set on the edge of town. Go for a nature walk and enjoy the deer, horses and variety of birds at our home. We are only one block from the Blyth Festival Theatre. Feel comfortable in our two double bedrooms. Both have private bath. Murray and Doreen Siertsemar 257 Gypsy Lane, Blyth, Ont. NOM 1H0 (519) 523-9248. Breakfast Style: Full. Open Year Round Romantic champagne Details important for caterer